Time Bomb
by ONNMT has moved
Summary: "Sometimes she could hear a clock in her head: tick, tock, tick, tock..." – a Luna-centric poem set when she is eleven-years-old. Muggle-Ruled!AU, Driven-out-of-Hogwarts!AU.


**Author: Otaku Neko Ninja Miko Tenshi **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**—For **_The Dance Competition_** (samba); **_The "May The Odds Always Be In Your Favour" Challenge_** (**3, 18, 25, 26, 40)**; **_Greek Mythology Mega Prompt Challenge_ **(Selene); **_Harry Potter Chapter Competition_** (Luna Lovegood); **_Pick a Card, Any Card Challenge_** (Four of Spades); **_A Variety of Prompts Challenge_ **(quotes, writing style, HP word); **_The Lolita Challenge_** (gloves); **_The Anime Alphabet Challenge_** (J);** _All Those Characters Challenge** (Luna Lovegood)**_**; **_Pokemon Journey Challenge_**; **_FanFicWriMo Challenge_**; **_As Much As You Can Competition_**; **_The Competitions Competition_**; **_The Challenge Ticketing Challenge_**; **_The Competitions Competition Expanded_**.—**

**WARNINGS: character death, worm-eating and witch-burning.**

* * *

_(Sometimes she could hear a clock in her head:_

_Tick, tock, tick, tock...)_

* * *

She'd always loved bonfires,  
The wood-smoke smell  
And how the embers are lifted  
In an upward swirl  
Like a cyclone of autumn leaves.

_It's raining, it's pouring..._

Those odd muggle cathedrals as well,  
Now that she thinks about it.  
Daddy had such a fondness for them  
The architecture  
Such a silly-billy daddy he was, bless him  
There's more to life than art.

_London Bridge is falling down..._

She was hiding in one now, a church that is  
A pretty little holy building,  
Tucked away in a corner of the woods somewhere  
She talks to it on the occasion;  
Nobody, **nobody**, can find us now...

_Hickory-Dickory-Dock..._

She misses her papa, Xenophilius Lovegood,  
Even his love of quirky magicless churches.  
He's gone now, to see Mama, or so he had said  
But that was all okay-  
"Soon," he'd promised "Then we'll see Pandora."  
Although, how long is 'soon'?

_Men, men, men, men-men-men-men..._

Got to stay productive though, she reminds herself  
Cleaning the church from top to bottom  
Though a little damp, the tree leaves work really well!  
She treats herself to a bout of exploration  
How she had missed such small, yet priceless activities.

_Ten green bottles..._

She's tired of eating worms for breakfast  
They're good for nutrients and all,  
But not so much for taste, nuh-uh, not at all  
She misses her wand  
Poor worms. She buries their heads.

_Raindrops on roses..._

Soon there are no heads left over  
So she mourns them  
Survival of the fittest, as they say  
Slipping them down her neck,  
She continues to whisper, "I'm sorry,"

_Lala, la la, lalalala, l-lala, la, la la, la laaa..._

Her time has come.

* * *

She's been expecting them for some time  
The muggles from the village nearby,  
All pointed pitchforks and flaming torches  
Not unlike an animated bonfire wave

They don't come inside,  
But still she stays,  
A jump, preening, pirouetting  
A tiny ballerina.  
"We're friends," she tells the church  
"And friends stick together."

It takes some time, but the curses  
They melt away at last  
Fading into the background  
As fire licks at the walls,  
She weeps the loss of the structure.

Perhaps she's more of a pixie at heart,  
She muses as a gale sweeps past  
Her robes are alight with phoenix colours;  
Regardless, she rides the wind  
"So this is the soon I've waited for, then?"  
"Goodbye, my friend."

* * *

_(The clock strives on:_

_Tick, tock, tick, tock...)_

* * *

**(Word count: 438)**

_*Chosen prompts: write about a **lively character** in **poetry** form; Epica's song **"This is the Time"**, write about someone **savouring a moment** [dancing], **Luna Lovegood**, write about a **conflict in which one person does not seem to care about the topic at all **[hiding], jump); write about **Luna**; alternatively, write about **Luna Lovegood**; **"I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things, could be bad." inspiration**, **poem**, **wand**; write about someone **hiding something** [herself]; write **anything**; write about **Luna Lovegood**; write about someone doing their **favourite activity** (exploring)*_

**Author's Note: I quite enjoy writing Luna, just as much as I do Ginny -hum-. The bonfire reference alludes to what my mind was sketching on the fifth of November (Bonfire Night) ^_^**

**-ONNMT**


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